CAROLINE KRIESEN
"CHRIS" and CREATOR/CO-DIRECTOR/HEAD WRITER
Caroline spends a great amount of time singing, consuming entertainment, turning herself into a product, and cracking self-deprecating jokes to express her deepest fears. She hails from West Hartford, Connecticut and much like her fellow Filipina-American Gabriella Montez, her public school 's theater and the music programs changed her life. So much so that to this day, she still wants to live a life without health insurance and with lots of rejection for her passion projects, particularly those featuring people of underrepresented ethnicities and sexualities.
But, she hopes you enjoy Mock U, her infant.
SAVANNAH EDMONDSON
"MYA" and GUEST DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER
Mya Jackson is portrayed by Savannah Edmondson, a not-so-small-town girl from Atlanta, Georgia. She left the booming city to attend Brandeis University as a Film, Television, and Interactive Media Arts major, minoring in Theater Arts. She originally joined the Mock U. crew as a contributing writer, and producer, but was approached to take on the role of Mya and the rest is history. You can find her always working on a student film project or writing new scripts. When she is not filming, you can find her on the court playing volleyball, or watching television and movies claiming she is "studying".
MARYAM CHISHTI
"MARISSA" and CO-HEAD WRITER/PRODUCER
COLIN HODGSON
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY/EDITOR/LINE PRODUCER
Originally from New York City, Maryam Chishti is a Theater and American Studies double major at Brandeis University. Maryam was approached after the initial audition process by Caroline Kriesen to originate and create the role of Marissa, a character not originally written in the pilot episode. Drawing on her experience working on the Latino Vote Team for the Hillary Campaign, Maryam sought to create a character personally affected by the new Presidential Administration. When not writing/acting for Mock U, she does improv with her troupe Crowd Control, manages social media for Free Play, a student run theater company, and is obsessed with all things mac and cheese. Much love to mom, dad, and everyone for watching!
Colin Hodgson was conceived in Northampton, Massachusetts not long after the assassination of Biggie Smalls. He is a sophomore at Brandeis University and is a Film, Television, and Interactive Media major, despite a prediction from a palm reader when he was five that he would enter into in the pharmaceutical business. He edited most of Mock U and also did some other stuff.
EMMA BERS
CO-DIRECTOR
KATE KESSELMAN
"APRIL" and WRITER/PRODUCER
Kate Kesselman is from New York City majoring in Business, Theater and Film, Television and Interactive Media at Brandeis University. This has been the door to Kate Kesselman’s film acting experience as she continued to act in other film projects ranging from Senior Thesis to Comedy Music Videos. Kate focuses on the April character by reviewing all the crazy theater characters throughout our nation’s history. She helps to shape character relations between May and April by questioning the commonalities and differences between the two of them. Kate despises the head warmers that go around the head, but do not go over the head.
ALAN OMORI
Emma Bers is one of the directors of Mock U. and also has a dog named Juno whom she’d like to show you a picture of. At Brandeis, Emma is busy with a film and history double major as well as a minor in creative writing and would love to show you this photo she just took of her dog, Juno. Extracurricularly, Emma is a member of the Brandeis Tennis Club, which has a profile on Instagram which is coincidentally a platform where she also posts pictures of Juno, who is her best friend and dog. Emma is from Palo Alto, California which is the hometown of many well known people such as Steve Jobs, the Franco brothers and Juno, Emma’s pet dog who is very photogenic and whose pictures Emma thinks you will find very adorable if you just let her take the time to show you them.
SAM FORMAN
"CHARLES"
"SHEPARD" and WRITER/PRODUCER
Alan is 19 years old and lives in Chicago. He is a business-majoring, musical-hating college student just like Shepard. But unlike his character, Alan also spends his time performing sketch and standup comedy, and keeps his wardrobe a whole lot less business casual. When he isn't gracing your screen in Mock U., Alan spends his time quoting vines and watching compilation videos of Wendy Williams crying.
Sam Forman, born May 11, 1999, in New York City, is a member of the Class of 2021 at Brandeis University looking to major in History with a major or minor in Hispanic Studies. In his spare time, his favorite things to do are video games, guitar, and looking at Vine compilations into the wee hours of the morning. He would like to dedicate his performance in Mock U to his future dog
ZOË ROSE
"QUINCE" and WRITER/PRODUCER
Zoë Rose is a sophomore at Brandeis from rural Connecticut. She is a psychology major and CAST minor, which stands for Creativity, the Arts, AND Social Transformation. Zoë met Caroline (from less rural Connecticut) through their improv troupe, and the two became unlikely friends/collaborators. Caroline told Zoë she had based a character off of her for her pilot episode, and thus, Quince was born. Some might say that opposites attract, Zoë might say "860 PRIDE!!! CT REPRESENT!!!". You may find Zoë doing improv comedy, running to something she's late to, or ordering a skinny cinnamon dolce latte at Starbucks.